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Bre Pettis, CEO and co-founder of MakerBot, a leader in desktop 3D printing, will deliver a keynote address at the 2014 International CES Leaders in Technology (LIT) Dinner.

“Bre Pettis’ leadership and passion for innovation have played a critical role in the success of 3D printing for both professionals and consumers – the consumer category didn’t even exist a few years ago and is now one of the biggest stories to come out of the International CES,” said Gary Shapiro, president and CEO, CEA. “We are thrilled to have Bre keynote the 2014 CES LIT dinner and look forward to hearing his vision for how 3D printing will transform entrepreneurship, business and consumer opportunities in the year ahead.”

The LIT Dinner will take place at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, January 8, in the Lafite Ballroom at Wynn Las Vegas. The invitation-only event gathers and honors the top technologists, entrepreneurs and policymakers instrumental in furthering technology innovation.

Pettis has led MakerBot as CEO since its beginning in 2009. Prior to co-founding MakerBot, he co-founded the Brooklyn hacker collective NYC Resistor, where Makerbot technology was first created, tested and proven. Pettis was instrumental in building the first prototypes of MaterBot’s 3D printers, and has become known worldwide as a leading evangelist for personal manufacturing. In 2012, Pettis was honored with the Disruptive Innovation Award from the Tribeca Film Festival, for “creating an entire ecosystem for desktop 3D printing.” He is passionate about providing tools for individuals and organizations to create the world around them.

New to the 2014 CES show floor, the 3D printing TechZone will showcase the latest advancements in 3D printing technology from top companies in the category. Following its initial launch, the 3D Printing TechZone sold out more than 3,000 net square feet of exhibit space and has since expanded to 6,900 square feet to meet exhibitor demand.

The company has partnered with DonorsChoose.org, America Makes, and Autodesk on this initiative. “To get this done, we are going to have to do it together,” said Bre Pettis, CEO of MakerBot.

MakerBot was inspired by President Obama’s call to action to bring manufacturing jobs back to the U.S. In the most recent State of the Union address, the President said, “a once-shuttered warehouse is now a state-of-the art lab where new workers are mastering the 3D printing that has the potential to revolutionize the way we make almost everything.”

MakerBot Academy is the company’s answer to this call. Beginning this week, individuals and corporations interested in helping put MakerBot Desktop 3D Printers in schools can visit DonorsChoose.org, a crowd funding site for teachers, and pledge to financially support the program. Teachers then register on DonorsChoose.org for a MakerBot Academy bundle.

Each MakerBot Academy bundle contains a MakerBot Replicator 2 Desktop 3D Printer, three spools of MakerBot PLA Filament, and a full year of the MakerBot MakerCare Service and Protection Plan. MakerBot will also support the teachers with the development of ongoing 3D printing curriculum that teachers can participate in and utilize in the classroom. MakerBot will leverage Autodesk’s software and educator curriculum as well.

Bre Pettis, CEO of MakerBot, has personally pledged to put a MakerBot Replicator 2 Desktop 3D Printer in public high schools in MakerBot’s hometown of Brooklyn, N.Y. In addition, Ralph Crump, original inventor of FDM 3D printing technology and founder of Stratasys, has pledged his support.

“As a former teacher, I believe strongly in creating a new model for innovation. A MakerBot is a manufacturing education in a box,” said Bre Pettis. “We need to encourage our teachers and our youth to think differently about manufacturing and innovation. When you have a MakerBot Desktop 3D Printer, you see the world differently. Instead of waiting for someone to create a product for you, you can create your own. It can change the whole paradigm of how our children will see innovation and manufacturing in America.”

Pictured above, Bre Pettis and Scott Crump.

The White House has responded positively to this initiative. “We are thrilled that MakerBot and America Makes are joining a growing coalition of citizens working to give American students the ability to design and make almost anything,” said Tom Kalil, deputy director for Technology and Innovation, White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. “As the President has said, we all need to think creatively about giving our young people the tools to be ‘the makers of things, and not just the consumers of things.’”

MakerBot is also launching a MakerBot Thingiverse Math Manipulatives Challenge. Math Manipulatives are one of the most requested items on DonorsChoose.org and are an item that can easily be 3D printed in the classroom. The MakerBot Thingiverse website will hold a week-­‐long design challenge, from November 12 through 18, 2013, for its members to quickly develop a variety of different math manipulative 3D designs that can then be available immediately to teachers that receive the MakerBot Academy 3D printing package.

MakerBot and Stratasys Share a Vision for the Future of 3D Printing

Scott Crump, Chairman of the Board of Stratasys, and Bre Pettis, CEO of MakerBot, kicked off the Inside 3D Printing conference in Chicago this morning with an exciting vision of a future where 3D printing becomes a part of our daily life.

It all began in the late 80s, when Scott Crump wanted to make a toy frog for his daughter. Scott and his wife Lisa built the frog, and with it the first 3D printer, with little more than a glue gun and a toy plotter in their kitchen. A passion was born, and after the food started tasting like plastic, they moved the operation to the garage. In 1989, they patented the first FDM (fused deposition modeling) machine, or 3D printer. Today Scott Crump is Chairman of the Board and Chief Innovation Officer of Stratasys, the largest commercial 3D printer company in the world. With over 30,000 printers sold, Stratasys has a global presence and annual revenues of over $350 million. They currently produce over fifty five percent of the commercial 3D printers in the market.

“Welcome to Stratasys and welcome to a 3D world,” passionately stated Scott Crump, “where the only limitation is your own imagination.” Crump emphasized how it’s amazing that a toy froggy led to building an exoskeleton that allows a girl to have fully functional limbs. In addition to turning manufacturing on its head, 3D printing will have a positive impact on people’s lives. “The manufacturing revolution has started and it’s not changing slowly,” says Crump. “Stratasys looks forward to leading the way to a future where we will see millions of 3D printers from home to industrial use.”

Crump then introduced Bre Pettis, the co-founder and CEO of MakerBot, who spoke about his journey into the 3D printing world that has made these printers accessible to consumers. He mentioned that he and his co-founders Adam and Zach began playing with the idea of 3D printing in 2007 at the hacker space, NYC Resistor. By January 2009, they founded MakerBot, which has recently been acquired by Stratasys for $403 million. Much like Scott and Lisa Crump started in their kitchen, Pettis mentioned how they “started as three guys, a laser cutter and a dream.”

After speaking to friends that they saw a future where you could download objects, they came up with Thingiverse where the latest challenge is for someone to come up with a birdhouse to download. Thingiverse has just launched a customizer where people who don’t know what CAD stands for, can design their own iPhone case design. Pettis mentioned, “Consumers now live in a world where they don’t have to choose between two products,” they can make one for themselves. He set forth his favorite example of a toy train track that can be made functional through 3D printing.

Scott Crump and Bre Pettis emphasized that 3D printing is here to stay and will become ubiquitous in our lives.